Mr. Freccero is a partner in the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster, where he is a member of the Litigation Department and the firm’s Criminal Defense Practice. He is a noted former federal prosecutor with trial and appellate experience in both federal and state courts. Mr. Freccero holds law degrees from both the United States and the European Union.

Mr. Freccero’s practice focuses on complex civil and criminal litigation. His experience includes the defense of private and class action antitrust litigation, patent, copyright, and trade secret litigation, products liability and toxic tort litigation, as well as complex commercial disputes in diverse industry sectors. He has also represented both individuals and corporations in numerous criminal matters involving allegations of tax evasion, securities and commodities fraud, and alleged violations of customs, environmental, and government contract regulations.

Mr. Freccero served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California (San Francisco) for more than nine years. During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of federal criminal cases, including both white collar and violent crime. He also handled matters involving international extradition and domestic and international terrorism.

In 1993, Mr. Freccero was assigned to serve as counsel for the national Unabom Task Force, headquartered in San Francisco, where he directed one of the largest Grand Jury investigations in U.S. history. In 1996, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed him Special Attorney to the United States Attorney General in the federal prosecution of Theodore Kaczynski. Mr. Freccero served as trial counsel in that case throughout the proceedings, including seven weeks of jury selection in Sacramento, California, through the sentencing of Mr. Kaczynski in May of 1998. In July of 1998, Attorney General Janet Reno presented Mr. Freccero with the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his work on the Unabom case.

Mr. Freccero received his BA degree from Wesleyan University in 1980, graduating magna cum laude with departmental high honors. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1987. Immediately following his graduation from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel Conti, United States District Court, Northern District of California. In the 1992-93 academic year, Mr. Freccero was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy, where he lectured and worked with members of the Italian judiciary on comparative criminal procedure issues. During this time he also attended the European University Institute (EUI), the European Community’s (now European Union) post-graduate research institution, where he researched and studied international and comparative criminal law and procedure. In 1994, he received his LL.M. in comparative European and international law from the EUI. Mr. Freccero has lectured on criminal law topics in the United States and Italy, and he has taught trial practice at the National Advocacy Center in South Carolina. He has been a frequent commentator on legal issues for both the local and national news media, and has been a frequent television commentator on the FOX National Television Network. In 1996, San Francisco Focus magazine featured Mr. Freccero as a member of the Bay Area’s “Braintrust” and one of the “40 under 40 - Young, Gifted and Living in the Bay Area.” He was further listed as one of Northern California’s “Super Lawyers” for Business Litigation by the San Francisco Magazine in 2004.

Representative Matters – Civil

• Lead counsel for a publicly-traded energy company in the successful defense of an Arizona state court antitrust action. The case was dismissed at the trial court level, and the dismissal was later affirmed by the Arizona Court of Appeals in a published opinion. Phelps Dodge v. El Paso Corporation, 142 P.3d 708 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2006).
• Represented privately held title insurance companies in California state court litigation over trade secrets and employment practices.
• Lead counsel in successful defense of breach of contract and commercial tort litigation in federal court in Las Vegas involving power supply contracts. The matter was resolved prior to trial with a multi-million dollar recovery for client on its counterclaims.
• Successful defense of a multi-defendant antitrust and RICO action in federal court in Las Vegas.
• Represented biotechnology company in state and federal actions in California related to microfluidic technology. A decision from these matters is reported at Aclara Biosciences v. Caliper Technologies, 125 F. Supp. 2d 391 (N.D. Cal. 2000).
• Represented a former member of the Church of Scientology who was sued in federal court in California for alleged copyright and trade secret violations in connection with statements posted on the internet.

Representative Matters – Criminal

• Represented privately held manufacturing company in connection with federal investigation involving allegedly fraudulent defense department contracts.
• Represented privately held manufacturing company in state and federal tax evasion investigations.
• Represented contracting company and sole proprietor in connection with federal criminal tax and false statement prosecution involving federal housing contracts.
• Represented an individual prosecuted for marijuana cultivation in what authorities described as one of the largest marijuana operations in Northern California history.
• Represented former manager of shipping company in multi-defendant criminal prosecution alleging felony charges related to improper transportation of hazardous materials.
• Prosecuted “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski for series of bombings throughout the United States that resulted in three deaths and injury to 23 other individuals.